BY: JIM SHIELS (5-20-02)

David & Chad Holman are a father/son combination that refuse to settle for second, with their eyes fixed firmly on a season championship in the Pure Stock division at Stockton 99 Speedway this year.

Born in Stockton in 1975 (hence the #75 on his car) the 27-year-old Chad is racing in his third year of competition on the quarter-mile paved oval, and after five nights of racing finds himself 2nd on the current point listing for the coveted title.

Chad finished 6th in points in his 2000 rookie season and earned the division’s Rookie of the Year award while also recording his first feature win on September 2nd of that year. He improved his placing to 5th the following year against 51 other feature event drivers. His Stockton attendance record is perfect, racing in all 48 possible events held since his 2000 season debut, compiling 13-heat wins, 3-dash wins, 4-main wins, and 16-main event top five finishes. Chad has a total of 56 total top finishes in all events entered to date.

His father, 47-year-old David, is also a racer of sorts, running 7-nights in 2001, mainly in the division’s B-Main level competition. A man of high integrity and (Sometimes) blunt honesty, David makes fun of himself regarding his racing talents. "I’m kinda glad I didn’t make racing my life’s effort," says the chuckling David, "I don’t think there would have been much food on the table if I had." His humbleness belies the fact that his 7-nights of competition landed him 10th in B-Main points against 59 other competitors that season.

Chad & David base their racing operations in Stockton where as many as four nights and 10 hours are spent weekly, working on the car to ready it for Saturday night competition. Chad, the oldest of two children in the Holman household is married and earns his living as an electrician for Altamont Electric. He and his wife Gina have a six-year-old, twin five-year-olds, and an 8-month-old baby, all boys. Chad figures he has close to $12,000 invested in his three-year operation. "We lay out about $100.00 every week just to make the Saturday shows, but I love it" says the quite mannered driver. Sponsorship would help cover part of the weekly bills, but sponsorship at this level is hard to find and Chad is happy just to be able to race as often as he does.

Chad runs a 1979 Olds Cutlass, powered by a 350 cubic inch motor that turns the track in 17.102 seconds, his personal best set on April 27th of this year. Chad’s current best time is fifth fastest on the all time record chart of 155 drivers who have taken time trials in the now seven-year-old division at Stockton.

Chad is no different than many others in his division with dreams of moving up to higher levels. "I would like to see how far I could go" Says Chad, "But Money buys horsepower and equipment, and without it those higher divisions are future thoughts at best." "Right now my goal is stopping Danny Guibor from defending his championship and taking that honor for myself and my dad." This reporter thinks Chad has the ‘right stuff’ to get the job done.